Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

Windmill Village, Party Tavern.

Alyosha, accompanied by his fishman Arlong, stood at the tavern entrance and greeted the members of the Red-Haired Pirates inside in a gentle tone.

Shanks and his core crew also cast curious glances at Alyosha, the outsider who had suddenly appeared in the tavern.

Alyosha himself didn't seem to feel anything, but Arlong, the fishman who was temporarily acting as Alyosha's follower, was a different story.

As a member of the Sun Pirates, how could he not have heard of the Red-Haired Pirates?

How could he have imagined that Alyosha would confront the Red-Haired Pirates in such a direct and straightforward manner?

They all looked so harmless, but Ah Long's physical instincts told him not to say or do anything rash, or he would die!

When the bartender, Makino, who was cleaning the bar, saw Alyosha appear, she hurriedly came out of the bar and bowed deeply to Alyosha with a hint of panic.

"I'm very sorry, sir, we're out of drinks for today."

"Really? That's a shame. Please give me something to eat, anything is fine, and a drink or water would be nice too."

"If it's water and food, there's absolutely no problem."

When Makino saw that Alyosha was accompanied by a fierce-looking fishman bodyguard, who was surprisingly easy to talk to than the bandits who had come to cause trouble earlier, her expression changed, and she quickly agreed.

"Then please give one to my bodyguard too. Ah Long, what would you like to eat? Fish or meat?"

Arlong the fishman stared wide-eyed at Alyosha, who was asking him very seriously, as if Alyosha really considered him a bodyguard who was just there for a meal.

As a Marine, aren't you afraid that the Red-Haired Pirates will recognize your Marine identity?

"Then let's eat meat. It just feels a bit strange to have a fishman like you eating fish."

Alyosha made the decision for Arlong on his own, found a seat and sat down. The core members of the Red-Haired Pirates, who were watching the show in the tavern, also laughed out loud because of Alyosha's teasing of Arlong.

The incident with the bandits came to an end when Alyosha appeared at the tavern with the fishman Arlong. Without paying much attention to this uninvited guest, Shanks continued to nag Luffy, telling him the cruel reality that eating a Devil Fruit meant he would never be able to learn to swim.

Seeing Luffy's frightened expression, the tavern was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Esteemed guest, sir fishman, here are your noodles and drinks."

"Wow, this looks delicious! I never imagined the proprietress was such a kind and beautiful woman. I really hope to have the honor of knowing your name."

"You're joking, sir. It's just some home-style cooking. My name is Marcino."

"Thank you so much, Miss Makino, for providing a hot and delicious meal for me and my bodyguard as we return from our voyage."

It must be said that Alyosha was indeed very handsome.

His polite and unpretentious manners were a great pleasure to Makino, a girl who spent most of her time in the windmill village.

She used her plate to cover her blushing face, which had been flushed from Alyosha's praise, and glanced at Alyosha's gentle smile from time to time before stammering and hurriedly leaving.

"No, I would be extremely grateful..."

Fearing that Alyosha and Shanks would see her embarrassment, Makino covered her face and left.

Shanks, who had just finished reprimanding Luffy, sat on the floor, ignoring his hair which was soaked with wine, and stared wide-eyed at Makino, who had left blushing after being praised by Alyosha, with an incredulous expression.

Shanks was dumbfounded when he saw Alyosha and Aaron sitting there eating their meal.

Huh? It's coming for me?!

Alyosha was engrossed in the delicious food in front of him, completely unaware that he was in a den of thieves, while the fishman Arlong ate with great discomfort, finding the food tasteless.

A glass of wine with ice was placed in front of Alyosha. The orange liquid poured from the bottle, colliding with the ice in the glass and creating beautiful bubbles.

"Shouldn't I state my own name before asking a beautiful woman's? My merman friend, could you move over a bit?"

Arlong the fishman, watching Shanks pour him a drink, had completely forgotten that he was eating.

How could he possibly deserve a drink from a great pirate like Shanks?

Without saying a word, Arlong picked up his plate and spotted Luffy, the boy who was eating listlessly among the core members of Shanks' crew in the tavern.

He ran over and sat down with Luffy.

"Huh? Uncle, why do you look different from me?"

Having never seen a fish-man speak so naively, Arlong wanted to show this kid who had eaten a Devil Fruit what made him different, but he could feel so many eyes staring at him in the tavern.

For the first time, Arlong showed Luffy, a kid, what it meant to laugh in a way that looked more like crying, and he also lowered his voice unusually.

"Because I'm a fish-man."

"What are fish-men? Are they half human and half fish?"

"No, those are mermaids, another kind of my own kind."

No, how come you two are sitting at the same table and talking about the mermaid? It's been so many years, let those two cops go.

Alyosha saw Arlong and Luffy sitting at the same table, chatting about jokes that only Alyosha understood.

Shanks poured himself a full drink and clinked glasses with Alyosha.

"The guest doesn't look like a local."

"Yeah, I came from Marineford. The redhead doesn't look like a local either."

"Yes, I've been at sea for too long, so I'm here on land looking for some peace and quiet. My name is Shanks, and I'm a captain."

"My name is Ran, and I am a teacher."

Alyosha raised his glass, and the two drank their drinks in one gulp. The crew members who had been watching the conversation in the tavern also raised their glasses and drank their drinks as well.

"May I ask Mr. Ran why, as a teacher, he came to the Kingdom of Goa from Marineford?"

"An elderly man from here asked me to come over and teach two kids who are considered very promising by the elders back home. I figured I was on vacation right now, so I thought I'd give it a try. What about you, Mr. Shanks?"

"Ha, this is a very peaceful and quiet village, and the villagers are all nice people, so I stayed here for quite a while and almost forgot what it felt like to go on an adventure at sea."

"I can understand. After all, we are ultimately land-dwelling humans. No matter how big or vast the stage of the ocean is, we will eventually have to take our final bow and leave. Getting used to life behind the scenes on land in advance is a good experience."

"Mr. Ran is indeed a teacher, but doesn't this seem a bit out of place for you?" Shanks laughed when he heard Alyosha say that the sea was a stage. These words were indeed to his liking. He poured Alyosha a full cup and pointed to the sword at Alyosha's waist.

"Oh, you mean this?" Alyosha casually drew a wooden sword from his waist, though it was a disguised kendo training sword. "Teaching students, as a teacher, you can't just teach by words, you also have to lead by example. Without this, you can't scare those naughty kids."

"If a teacher is as gentle as Mr. Ran, I don't think any child would like to be naughty."

"Ha, you can't say that. Look at this child, he's very mischievous, but also very kind."

Alyosha pointed to Luffy, who was sitting at the same table as Arlong the Fishman. Shanks looked in the direction Alyosha was pointing and saw a scene that made him laugh.

At this moment, ten-year-old Luffy wore a sour face and looked at the frantic fishman Arlong with great disdain.

"Enough! You brat, did you even understand? I'm a fish-man, not a mermaid. A mermaid is half human and half fish, a beautiful mermaid with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish!"